


Please Don't Be Dead, Don't You Dare Be Dead

by TeamImprov



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016) Whump, Blood Loss, Episode Tag, Explosion, Gen, Head Injury, Hiding Injury, Ignoring Injury, Skull+Electromagnet, Whump, worried team
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27626846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamImprov/pseuds/TeamImprov
Summary: A whumpier version of the plane explosion in Skull+Electromagnet because there's no way Mac and Cage got out of that one unscathed!Mac hides an injury and Jack's not happy about it. Maybe the Bermuda Triangle really is cursed...
Comments: 20
Kudos: 57





	Please Don't Be Dead, Don't You Dare Be Dead

The smell of jet fuel was strong in the air. 

That wasn’t particularly surprising in a downed jet but it was stronger than Mac thought it should be. 

“Stay here,” he told Cage and made his way to the cockpit. A broken seat was resting against the doorway and he pulled on it, trying to dislodge it in an attempt to find the source of the harsh smell. 

“What’s wrong,” Cage asked, pausing her own fruitless search in cautious curiosity. 

“Hold on.” With a final heave, the seat came free. A clump of cut wires that had been held up by the chair gave way and fell the few inches needed to make contact with a puddle of fuel. The wires cracked, sparking as they hit the fuel, and Mac immediately knew that it was a set up.

His first thought was to get as far away from the plane as possible. 

His second thought was that there wasn’t enough time to get away and Jack was going to kill him if he went kaboom without him. 

“Run!” Mac yelled, startling Cage with the intensity of the warning. She didn’t question it. Years of training had taught her how to duck when someone said duck, and run when someone said run. 

They both dove for the threshold and Cage threw herself out, landing hard on the grass below. She heard Mac grunt as he landed solidly behind her. She risked a seconds glance back but Mac was already pulling himself to his feet and motioning for her to keep going. She didn’t have to be told twice. 

Mac felt his ankle pop as he crashed to the hard packed dirt. He couldn’t stop the grunt that escaped at the sudden pain but it wouldn’t matter if they both blew up. He limped along as fast as he could on the ankle and knew it wasn’t going to be enough. They weren’t going to be fast enough. 

Thinking quickly, he grabbed the metal door of the plane, closed his eyes, and swung around so he was between Cage and the impending explosion. 

They didn’t even have enough time to duck before it blew. 

The force of the blast against the metal door knocked him clean backwards. He felt his left side connect with Cage’s back as they were pushed together with the force of it. Luckily, the door was made of aluminum and therefore a poor conductor of heat, but the heat from the blast still took his breath away. 

Mac knew the landing was coming and didn’t want to crush Cage. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do about it as debris crashed into the door, Mac felt a secondary explosion of pain burst through his side, and then they were hitting the ground with bone crushing force. The door smacked into the side of Mac’s forehead and it was lights out. 

Cage felt Mac’s body crash into hers as soon as they were hit with the force of the blast. All she could do was hold her breath as she flew through the air. Before she had time to think, she was eating a face full of grass and dirt. Mac’s weight on her was the next thing she was aware of and she couldn’t help but cry out when she felt a rib snap 

She couldn’t move at first, too dazed to process anything remotely helpful. She lifted her head, spitting out the grittiness in her teeth, and waited for Mac to move. He didn’t. She let her cheek rest on the grass and used her peripheral vision to try to get a glimpse of why he felt way too heavy for his lean frame. She could see the edges of his blond hair and the corner of a metal door. He must have used it to shield them from the blast - smart. She’d have to thank him as soon as he stopped unintentionally suffocating her. 

Her ears were ringing but she could still hear the low grumble of the lingering explosion. She knew by the force of the blast, and the smoke billowing overhead, that it must have been a massive one. They were more than a little lucky to be alive...if they even were still alive. 

“Mac,” she tried to say but she couldn't hear enough to know if the word came out or if they were stuck in her scrambled mind. Mac didn’t move but she figured that even if he was still alive he probably couldn’t hear much of anything, either. 

It took several minutes but eventually she felt Mac flinch above her. She grit her teeth as the broken rib shifted in her chest. Hopefully, it wouldn’t puncture her lung and they could keep going with the mission. If it did puncture her lung, well, she always knew she would get taken out on a mission someday. She just hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. 

She felt him try to push the door off them but it didn’t seem to be going very well. Instead, he rolled off her and then it was simply the weight of the door against them. 

She knew she was getting her hearing back when she turned her head toward Mac to find herself staring at his pale, half-smile. 

“Ow,” was all he said and Cage had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. 

++

As soon as the blast happened, Jack knew it was the plane. 

The plane where Mac and Cage were. The realization caused his heart to sink. 

No way, this was not how his best friend died. Not in the Bermuda Triangle of all places. He wasn’t going to let it take him. Not him. 

You go kaboom, I go kaboom. 

It had been one of the first promises they had made to each other and it was the way they forged their friendship and trust in one another. It was more sacred to Jack than even the wookie life debt he owed the kid. He had never meant anything more in his life. 

They had made that promise a million times and it never occurred to Jack that if Mac went kaboom Jack could be over half a mile away and completely out of harm's way. 

No, that wasn’t how their story ended. 

Jack didn’t make the conscious decision to run but that’s what he found himself doing. He was hurtling through the woods, toward his best friend and what he hoped wasn’t a devastating tragic discovery. 

Please let me have more time with him. He begged the universe, the Bermuda Triangle, anything that would listen. Don’t take him away now, not after everything we’ve been through. Don’t let this be the way I’m punished for all the things I’ve had to do in my life. 

He heard Riley and Bozer close behind and knew they were feeling the same fear he was. What would this do to their team if they lost them? 

As soon as he crested the hill and saw what little was left of the plane, he felt himself go numb. He recognized it as his mind’s attempt to protect him from what he might find here and refused to even accept that as a possibility. 

The truth remained clear, though. There was debris everywhere, the blast too strong to survive without protection. Mac would have found something to use, to protect them, he would have! 

“Please don’t be dead.” He begged when he saw the smoldering door from the plane. If he was going to use anything, Mac would have used that. “Don’t you dare be dead.” 

He crashed to his knees beside the door and threw it to the side. He wouldn’t survive finding their burnt corpses underneath. They had to be alive. 

“Don’t you do it.”

Holding his breath, he watched as the two agents turned toward his voice, very much not burned alive and both miraculously awake, blinking owlishly. Jack sighed in relief, could have cried if he wasn’t so goddamn happy to see both pairs of blue eyes staring back at him. 

Cage was on her back, already trying to push herself to her feet. Mac was curled on his side, breathing heavily and pale but smiling. 

“That was a little too close for comfort, man, you okay?” Jack felt like a live wire as the adrenaline coursed through his veins. HIs eyes took in the agents huddled on the ground, searching for injuries, burns, blood, anything to suggest they hadn’t escaped that unscathed. 

They both seemed uninjured, if not a little dazed. Jack would have been surprised if they weren’t shaken up after that. But he was just so goddamn relieved to be able to talk to them. 

“It wasn’t the most fun we’ve had on this little trip.” Cage griped, dusting herself off and pulling Mac to a seated position beside her. 

Riley and Bozer kneeled next to the downed agents, eyes wide as they took in the destruction around their friends. How could anyone survive that? 

“I told you this place was haunted.” Jack said, reaching out and gently turning Mac’s face to get a better look at the cut above his eyebrow. Mac swiped at the blood collecting at his eyelashes to keep it from getting in his eye. 

“Wasn’t an accident,” Mac hissed as Jack probed at the wound. Jack muttered soft words of apology, reached into his tac vest for some gauze, and placed it against the wound. Guiding Mac’s hand to hold pressure on it and feeling confident that the wound looked worse than it was, Jack gave Mac a disbelieving look. 

“What do you call that big boom that just lit up the sky, homie?” He asked and Mac rolled his eyes, wincing a little as it aggravated his head injury. 

“A trap.” Mac explained. “Someone booby-trapped the cockpit with live wires and a pool of jet fuel. It sparked when I moved a chair and set off the explosion.” 

“The prisoner they had in custody?” Bozer asked. 

Cage nodded, “I saw a set of empty handcuffs in there before things got interesting.”

“So the prisoner survives the crash, drags an entire CIA team off the plane, and rigs it to explode? Who are we dealing with here?” Riley asked, glancing around as if they could be anywhere. Honestly, they could be. 

“Okay,” Jack started, taking control of the situation. “I think we have to operate under the assumption that someone very dangerous is on the island with us.” 

“Jack’s right,” Mac added, a little too shaky for Jack’s liking. “We all have to stay on high alert as we look for Wheeler and his team.” 

“Riley and I will set up base camp here,” Bozer added. “When the tac team gets here they’re gonna head straight for the fire from the crash.”

“And I’ll figure out our satellite problem so we can get communications up with Matty. I’m sure she’s thrilled we’ve been dark this long.” 

“Did you guys find anything other than the handprint?” Cage asked, Jack noticed that her hand had yet to let go of her shoulder. 

“Yeah, a blood trail leading right to the Navy Raider base. That way.” Bozer said, pointing toward the woods to the left of the plane’s burnt carcass. 

“Then that’s where we’re going,” Mac observed, pushing himself to his knees before swaying dangerously. 

“Woah, woah, hang on now.” Jack interjected, diving forward to catch his wavering friend. Mac huffed out a deep breath before letting himself sit back. “You two seem to be forgetting that you were almost deep fried in that little jet explosion back there. You’re both clearly hurtin’ so why don’t we take a breath and tell ol’ Jack where it hurts?” 

“I’m good, Jack.” Mac insisted. “The door protected us from most of the blast. I just hit my forehead and I think I landed on Cage.” 

“I’ll be okay,” Cage said. “Maybe a broken rib and a pulled muscle in my shoulder. Nothing I haven’t dealt with before.” 

“I’m sorry,” Mac said, feeling immediately guilty. It wasn’t his intention to hurt her when he shielded her from the blast. 

“It’s not your fault,” she insisted. “And I’ve had a lot worse. I’m good to go.” 

“You sure?” Jack eyed them both suspiciously. If they had claimed to be one hundred percent fine he wouldn’t have believed them but they both fessed up. He’d keep an eye on them but there was no reason to think they weren’t capable of continuing with the mission. 

As Riley and Bozer were helping Cage to her feet, Mac took Jack’s offered hand and bit his tongue to hold back a groan as he was pulled to a standing position. 

“Hey Jack,” Mac asked. “Could you grab my jacket from our supplies?” 

“Sure thing, man.” Jack said and walked over to one of their bags. Luckily, it was a little chilly so it wasn’t particularly suspicious. Mac took that moment when everyone else was preoccupied to glance down at his burning side. There was a rip in the dark fabric of his shirt. He didn’t dare look but he could see the growing stain deepening the shade of the black fabric. Luckily, his shirt was such a dark color already that nobody else had noticed. If he could hide the stain and the tear, then he might be able to get through the mission without Jack going all mother hen on him. Based on how it felt, Mac knew he was going to have to address it eventually but they were going to have to deal with it later. 

“There you go,” Jack said, handing him his leather jacket. Mac pulled it on, grateful for the warmth. “You’ll tell me if you start feeling worse, right?” 

Mac nodded, ignoring the sensation of blood trickling down his side. They didn’t have a choice. They had to find Wheeler and his team. If Jack thought he was injured, he’d be distracted and they couldn’t get distracted when a highly trained killer was on the loose. 

“I’m holding you to that, hoss.” Jack told him, relieved that the kid’s head wound had stopped bleeding. Maybe they really did get lucky in the Bermuda Triangle of all places. All things considering, of course. 

Mac made his way up the hill as Jack gave Riley one of his side arms and Bozer a flashlight. It was a little disheartening that after going only that far he was already out of breath and every footstep was pulling agonizingly at his side. It was going to be difficult to keep this one a secret, Mac realized, and maybe he shouldn’t. But then Jack was making his way up the hill, face set in his usual mission-related intensity and focus, and he knew he couldn’t jeopardize it. He’d be okay dealing with it on his own. He had to be. 

Mac swallowed hard, took a moment to gather his strength, and brushed the sweaty bangs from his forehead. 

This was going to be one hell of a long mission. 

To Be Continued.


End file.
